June 12, 2014

Madness In Iraq: Idiots Are In Charge

Washington's covertly trained proxy army has taken Mosul and Tikrit in a span of a few days. Its officially trained Iraqi army disintegrated like dust when their presence mattered most.

"The White House signaled on Wednesday that it was looking to strengthen Iraqi forces to help them deal with an insurgency rather than to meet what one U.S. official said were past Iraqi requests for U.S. air strikes.

An Obama administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity said Iraq had previously made clear its interest in drone strikes or bombing by manned U.S. aircraft to help it beat back the militant onslaught.

Sunni rebels from an al Qaeda splinter group overran the Iraqi city of Tikrit on Wednesday and closed in on the biggest oil refinery in the country, making further gains in their rapid military advance against the Shi'ite-led government in Baghdad." - Reuters, "U.S. focus is on boosting Iraqi forces, not air strikes" June 11, 2014.

Iraq has asked Washington for airstrikes against Jihadists who have been directly propped up as a result of Washington's own policies in Syria. Let's think about that for a moment and try to understand why Iraqi officials believe they would get air support from Washington.

Are Iraqi officials stupid? Are they idiots? Why would Washington bomb its proxy army in their war against the Syrian regime right at the moment when they're gaining ground across the map? No doubt, the CIA was grinning ear to ear when ISIS fighters managed to get hold of U.S. military equipment in Mosul left behind by Iraqi troops because that made their job so much easier.

Do current Iraqi officials seriously believe that Washington considers them to be more valuable allies than their prized al-Qaeda foot soldiers who provided them with 9/11, and many other desired events over the past decade? Are they that naive? Do they have any idea about the magnitude and cynicism of U.S. covert operations in their country, and across their region?

It's time to get real in Iraq. The country is falling apart, their inept army can't even hold a police station, and in the middle of this madness they're crawling to Washington and begging it to come over one more time and pull off airstrikes against their own assets. That's their plan to retake territory and restore order? That's never going to happen.

Get a better idea, like, say, fighting on the ground rather than running away. That's where battles are fought and won. Drones and fighter jets won't accomplish anything but create more refugees, destruction, grievances, and public anger. It's madness for the government of Iraq to use imperial tools to try to defeat local insurgencies.

If push comes to shove, Washington will side with al-Qaeda, ISIS, and similar Jihadist terrorist groups over the direct wishes and concerns of the Iraqi central government. That should be clearly understood in Baghdad. Asking Washington for support against Al-Qaeda is like going to Dracula for a blood donation. Officials in Baghdad should have more self-pride, and take on the demons that Washington has created in their country and the region on their own.